


Bless the Broken Road

by SaltyStarChild (Charonte_Queen)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Getting Together, Lance gets the bi arc he deserved, Oops, Space Road Trip, and that emotional talk with Shiro that we expected, but then Keith just took over at one point, getting over heartbreak, mostly Lance-centric, post-season 6, season seven and eight don't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 22:17:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17088764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charonte_Queen/pseuds/SaltyStarChild
Summary: They're headed home, to Earth. And on the way, Lance has a few much needed talks and maybe even a realization or two.





	Bless the Broken Road

**Author's Note:**

> So uhhh I started writing this after Season 6 aired. So Seasons 7-8 are irrelevant, which is fine by me because I wanted happy reunions which is what I fucking did.
> 
> Aaaanyway. Lance's family is a bit different than what it was in S7-8, mostly because this was written before that. But I did go back and change some of it so that the siblings and niece and nephew are the same. Also, it has been a long time since I've been talked to in Spanish or been in a Spanish class and, though I remember a lot of basics, I did have to use Google Translate. So, lo siento if anything is wrong. This went through so many rounds of editing, so please please please feel free to point out mistakes if you see them so I can fix it.

The castleship is gone and with it so is their ability to travel impossible distances in an instant via wormhole. Logically, Lance understood that the journey back to Earth would be a long, _long_ , _looooong_ one in just their lions, but the knowledge of their destination fuels his impatience.

He just wants to finally _be there_.

He wants to feel his mamá’s tight embrace. He wants to see his sisters get hitched. He wants to wrestle Marco for the TV remote only to have Rachel sneak in and steal it, to suffer Marco’s rough knuckles aggressively rubbing against his scalp as Lance tries to escape the chokehold. He wants to taste his abuelita’s traditional Cuban cooking. He wants to visit his oldest brother Luis and his kids. He wants to see how much Sylvio and Nadia had grown, though he hopes it won’t be too much. He just wants to feel the arms of his family wrapped around him and warming him with their love.

Lance is _so close_ to having it all within his reach. But until then, he needs to tough it out.

Toughing it out, however, is becoming harder every tick. He blames Keith.

Some part of Lance recognizes that it isn’t Keith’s fault that he found his mom, and he’s even ecstatic that they’ve developed a good relationship despite the past; but there’s a larger, more irrational, part of Lance that’s angry and jealous and frustrated because Keith gets to have his long-lost mother by his side and the closest Lance has been to his own was that damn video message Pidge’s dad took back to Earth.

Any time the video comms in the lions are up, there they are. Anytime they’ve stopped on a planet to stock up on food and rest and stretch their legs, there they are.

Everywhere he turns, _there they are_.

He knows this is ridiculous. He knows it’s irrational. He knows Keith deserves to spend as much time as possible with his mother more than anyone else.

But for as much as he _knows_ , Lance still feels like he’s been slighted by the universe.

\-----

They’ve stopped on a planet with dark purple grass, neon blue trees, and buildings made of jade. The planet’s true name is only pronounceable by the natives but has been nicknamed by tourists as Tej’me Gral, which Coran roughly translated to mean something along the lines of “violent hospitality”. The natives greeted them with a shrieking noise that sounded a bit like glass shattering alongside spearpoint, which was likely the reason behind the _violent_ part of the nickname. The planet’s people almost resembled peacocks, with their long, brightly colored feathers falling and fanning out from their shoulders like a cape. Their skin had a leather-like look to it and ranged in shades of teal from individual to individual, with long narrow faces occupied mostly by their three cat-like eyes and framed by thin droopy translucent ears. They dressed in similarly translucent material tinted pastel colors that flowed over their bodies like water.

Allura stepped forward with the kind of confidence and regality that only a princess could possess.

“I am Princess Allura of the planet Altea,” she told them. “These are the Paladins of Voltron and my advisor Coran. We would be very grateful if you could escort us to a place we could rest and gather supplies for our journey.”

The small group that had greeted them relaxed and even seemed excited at Allura’s words. They all started to talk at once which only created more confusion than clarification. Their language seemed to be a mixture of whistles, clicks, and the occasional mesh of sounds that sounded vaguely like English words but not quite. Allura’s eyebrows scrunched together but her smile remained full and intact. She was about to speak again, but Coran had stepped forward talking a mile a minute in a choppy imitation of the whistle-clicks. The aliens’ eyes widened in surprise before they laughed and gestured for the group to follow them.

Coran looked back over his shoulder and smugly told them, “Their language seems to have evolved some since ten thousand years ago and I’m a bit out of practice, but I seem to still know enough to get us by!”

They were led into the heart of the city, and were heading towards the towering steeple in the center to meet with whoever was in charge. Coran, who apparently had learned the language from his great-great-grandfather, was chatting away while they walked with one of the natives who tittered a whistle-like tune in response. Allura and Shiro weren’t far behind, relying on Coran to translate the conversation, while Pidge and Hunk walked together and took note of their surroundings. Krolia, Keith, and Romelle walked silently behind them, the space wolf trotting dutifully in front of them.

Lance quietly brought up the rear. His eyes were turned towards the sky and the white fluffy clouds that drifted lazily from one horizon to the other. If Lance ignored everything else, he could fool himself that it was Earth’s sky he was looking at. He could fool himself into believing they had already made it home.

An odd noise and bright light from behind him startled Lance out of his thoughts. Whipping around, one hand reaching for his bayard, he yelped and was tackled to the ground by Keith’s new pet. Surprised, Lance glanced back at the group that had kept moving, except for Keith, Krolia, and Romelle who had all turned to see where the wolf had disappeared to.

Romelle outwardly laughed as Lance struggled to remove the wolf from his chest as he was attacked by enthusiastic wolf-kisses. Krolia looked mildly amused, and Keith came to give Lance a hand.

“Sorry about him,” Keith apologized, though he didn’t look very sorry to Lance. “He’s pretty friendly.”

“I can see that,” Lance huffed as he finally got to his feet. “He got a name?”

Keith averted his eyes from Lance’s gaze, cheeks and the tip of his nose burning a noticeable shade of red against his pale skin as he said, “It’s Kosmo. Because he’s, you know, a cosmic wolf.”

The corners of Lance’s mouth twitched, and he couldn’t help the snort that escaped him. He didn’t say anything more, opting instead to scratch the back of Kosmo’s ears. Keith rolled his eyes and clapped a hand on Lance’s shoulder.

“Come on, we should catch up with the others,” he said softly.

Together, Lance and Keith jogged to join up with Krolia and Romelle, who waited patiently while keeping an eye on the rest of their so-far oblivious group. And for the first time in the months since the alliance with Lotor, Lance felt something akin to _contentment_ , and his smile genuinely reached his eyes. Even the irrational jealousy of Keith having his mother within arm’s reach was soothed to a gentle lull. The rest of the walk to the steeple was spent in conversation with Krolia and Romelle, recounting exaggerated stories of Earth and his and Keith’s time at the Garrison.

Lance liked the way that Krolia smiled proudly whenever he told a story that involved Keith, he liked the way Romelle laughed at his misadventures with his brothers and cousins, and he especially liked the way that Keith rolled his eyes in exasperation and yet their gaze was still softer than the steel-cold they had been when they had first been launched into space.

Lance liked that he felt _seen_.

\------

The building they stayed in, like all the others, was made of jade—or something that looked like it. There were enough rooms available for everyone to have their own, which Lance was grateful for. He hadn’t been looking forward to the idea of sharing a room with one of the others. He was too far in his own head to be a decent enough roommate, even just for one night. Plus, he was just really looking forward to sprawling out on an actual bed.

Everyone had turned in for the night after talking with the leader of Tej’me Gral for hours. But despite being absolutely drained of energy, Lance just couldn’t find sleep.

Just as it had the last few nights, his brain was still replaying all the events since Keith had flown into the hangar on the Castle of Lions, flinging accusations with the same deadly accuracy he threw knives. It kept replaying Allura’s face when she and Lotor returned, Allura’s face when Romelle told her story, Allura’s face after knocking the piece of shit out cold.

A terrible part of him—a part of him that he really wished wasn’t him—was _happy_. It was a vindictive happiness, poisonous and corrosive, and Lance hated it.

Lance had never felt this way about a girl before—had never truly _loved_ another being this way before—and Allura had continued to give him small nuggets of hope before burning them to ashes seconds later. She left him heartbroken over and over again. That terrible part of him was glad she was experiencing the pain she put him through.

The back of his hand swiped at his eyes.

 _I’m pathetic_ , he thought bitterly. _Allura’s my friend, my teammate. I shouldn’t be glad she’s hurting._

 _She was glad every time she hurt you_ , filled in that stupid angry voice.

 _But not_ because _she hurt me_ , Lance reasoned with himself.

With a heavy sigh, Lance swung his legs out of bed and walked to the door. He pushed on it and walked into the hallway before he could change his mind. His feet carried him three doors down to the right. The hall was silent and dark and, if Lance hadn’t been so set on the mission he had given to himself, he might have turned back from the creepy horror movie vibes it gave off. But his vision had tunneled, and his mind had become set on one thing, so he found himself knocking on the door to the room Allura was staying in.

He needed to _talk_ with her before he could really move on.

“Lance?” His heart constricted at the sound of her voice. “What are you doing still awake?”

“I really need to talk with you, Princess. Can I…can I come in?” He shuffled his weight from foot to foot, one hand raising to scratch at the back of his neck. His heart felt like it was trying to beat despite being held in a tight fist. Allura stepped to the side, allowing Lance to enter.

Awkwardly, he made his way inside. His eyes glanced over the room, mostly bare and identical to the one he was staying in. Allura moved to sit at the end of the bed.

“What was it you wanted to talk about, Lance?” Allura asked gently, almost hesitantly. At the sound of her voice, Lance finally met her eyes. He could see the soft sadness and sharp pain held within them. A rush of guilt washed over him for having come over to talk about something that was ultimately probably not that big of a deal. He almost made an excuse to return to his room when Allura spoke again. “Lance?”

“Yes?”

“It’s okay,” she said, patting the spot beside her. “You can talk to me about anything.”

His shoulders dropped as he sat down, all tension falling from them. His eyes stung again so he just watched his socked feet, doing his best to keep his face somewhat neutral.

“Allura, I—I love you,” he started, voice no more than a whisper. He refused to look up. “And I know—I know that, that I…I’m not some kind of cool space prince or anything. I’m just…average, and you—you deserve more than average. But I’ve never felt this strongly about a girl before, a-and I just needed to tell you that. Because I know you don’t like me the same way I like you.

“When you fell out of the pod, when we all first met, I thought that this was just another stupid crush on a pretty girl. That happens all the time, I’m used to that. But then it wasn’t just a stupid crush anymore. I didn’t think you would want to make time for anything like romance or relationships while we were in the middle of trying to defeat Zarkon, but then Lotor came with his silky hair and pretty face and smooth words. You didn’t hesitate to make time for him. I think that’s when…that’s when I _knew_. But I kept looking for hope that, maybe, one day, you’d look at me the same way you had looked at Lotor,” Lance finished, his voice cracking and tears threatening to spill over.

He still couldn’t bring himself to look at Allura’s face, but he felt her hand on his back and heard the sad sigh that escaped her lips.

“I am truly sorry Lance,” she started, her voice thick with just as much emotion as Lance’s own. “I never intended to hurt you when I brushed off your advances. At some point, it fell into routine and I’ve come to expect your flirtatious nature. I never thought that you could have been serious. I wish I could give you what you want from me, Lance, but I can’t.”

He’d known the answer, known it truly since she and Lotor had first started getting close, yet his heart still felt like she had personally pulled it from his chest and carved it up like a jack-o-lantern right in front of him. He’d known, but the words still hurt to hear from someone other than the voice in his head.

Lance took a steadying breath, eyes shut tightly as he willed himself not to cry any harder than he already was.

“I know, Princess. I just…I needed to tell you and—and I think I really needed to hear _you_ tell me…tell me that, so I could, you know, really let go and move on,” his voice was quiet and a little hoarse, but he finally looked up. He stared at Allura, taking in the slight guilt in her wet eyes and the way her ears seemed to droop as tears slowly escaped down her cheeks. He gave her a small, half-hearted smile. “I’ll bounce back. You don’t have to worry about that.”

He reached over for her hand, squeezing it once before letting go and standing up.

His hand was on almost on the door when he glanced back.

He licked his lips before asking, “If things had been…different…like, if I had been more, I don’t know, serious? In the beginning, about my feelings. Do you think we would have been something more?”

Allura looked conflicted and her hands folded in her lap. It was a heavy few seconds before she finally gave him an answer.

“I can’t be sure, Lance, but I don’t think so.”

Lance nodded as if he had been expecting it. There was a certain relief in that answer, a knowledge that it wouldn’t have worked in his favor even if he had done anything differently. He opened the door and gave Allura the biggest smile he could muster.

“Goodnight, Princess. Sweet dreams.”

\-----

_He can smell the salt in the air. There’s the distant crash of waves on the sand._

_Metal clanging from downstairs and the laughter that echoes after it is what rouses him out of the comfort of his blankets. When he’s at the bottom of the stairs, he can hear the salsa music and he sees his mother and abuelita dancing around the kitchen making so much food that Lance wonders if they’re hosting the entire population of Cuba. His mother spins and her hips sway and Lance is frozen in place at the purely blissful look on her face._

_“Ah, mijo, finally!” She said delightedly. She dropped a stack of plates into his arms that seemed to touch the ceiling._

_“Dios, mamá, how many people are you feeding?” he complained under the weight, dutifully bringing them through the open backdoor to the tables set up outside in the backyard. Luis and Marco were already out there, setting up for what looked to be a party._

_“Don’t tell me you forgot? You were so excited!” She laughed. “It’s the only thing you’ve talked about all week.”_

_His abuelita scoffed from the kitchen, “All week? Lancito has been talking about it all month!”_

_Lance felt his cheeks burn as Marco and Luis snickered and helped him set the tables. Veronica appeared from the side gate, laughing with Sylvio and Nadia, who ran through calling for their abuelita and Ma Estella, not even pausing to give their father and uncles in the backyard a hello._

_Veronica sauntered over with a smirk, snatching a plate off the stack and getting to work._

_“You must be excited, eh?” She teased. “They’re all finally coming over.”_

_"I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ronnie,” he pouted. His sister rolled her eyes._

_“Sure you don’t, hermanito,” she drawled. She looked like she was about to say something else when there was a pounding on the front door._

_Lance shouted a quick “I’ll get it!” and dashed to the door before anyone else had the chance. Lance took a deep breath as his hand wrapped around the doorknob. He pulled it open with a wide smile and greeted—_

Lance groaned as the sound of someone’s fist on the door woke him from his dream. There was a muffled “Come on, Lance, time to get up and go!” that sounded suspiciously like Keith on the other side. He could still hear the salsa music in his ears from that wonderful dream of home, could still smell the salt in the air.

And he couldn’t help but wonder just who was on the other side of the door in the dream that he’d been so excited to see.

\-----

Months passed since the night spent on Tej’me Gral. They had stopped at a handful of planets within the Coalition for rest and restocking supplies. Everything within the universe was an eerie quiet, as if everyone was holding their breath. Haggar and Sendak were still out there, somewhere, scheming and waiting for their opportunity to strike against Voltron. Allura and Keith kept the team very aware of this fact, urging everyone to move as quickly as possible. The sooner they had another castleship to work out of, the better.

Lance appreciated the rush. It helped to distract him from the mess that was his emotions. He could tell Allura felt guilty and awkward, even without Voltron’s link bonding its Paladins together. Every time they landed on a planet, she had a regretful look in her eye and her shoulders seemed to drop whenever their eyes met.

He hated that look, but he also knew it wasn’t going to go away any time soon.

At least they were making good progress on their journey to Earth. Lance kept his mind on that. He would be home soon. They would all be home soon.

\-----

There were small skirmishes along the way, and a few large-scale battles. Word of Lotor disappearing entirely spread throughout the Galra Empire faster than Lance thought possible. There were people vying for control all over again, though many remained in fearful support of Sendak.

Lance hated the fights along their journey to Earth. He hated the way Kaltenecker cried in protest to the sharp movements his lion made or the occasional impact of enemy fire. It was times like this that he wished they still had the Castle of Lions. It had been a place where those who weren’t piloting the lions were safe, or at least safer than out in the lions themselves.

The comms were open, and Keith was giving commands as fast as the Galra countered their attacks. Each close encounter Allura and the Blue Lion had with enemy fire was responded with a yelp from Romelle that made Lance’s heart squeeze uncomfortably.

Romelle was an innocent girl. She shouldn’t be in the crossfire like this. She shouldn’t be in the thick of it. Krolia and Shiro, who were riding with Keith in Black, were at least used to the battlefield. They _knew_ how dangerous it could get. They knew what to expect because they’d already been in the thick of it. Romelle…Romelle was a girl sheltered from the war, from the rest of the universe.

“Lance!” Keith’s voice over the comms called. “You and Hunk take the left; Allura, Pidge, the right. I’ll keep their attention.”

“You got it, Keith,” Lance said as he adjusted the controls, trying to keep his mind on the fight rather than the extra passengers on a couple of lions.

\-----

The waist-high grass bent beneath the feet of the five lions. The planet’s suns were setting on the horizon, casting a glow of reds and oranges on the land. The paladins and their passengers all stumbled down the ramps, exhausted from the fight. They hadn’t seen any evidence of life on the planet as they descended but they had all agreed to stop there and at least rest for a bit before continuing. They all needed the mental break.

Romelle gasped as she looked around.

“The flowers,” she said softly. “They’re glowing.”

Lance stood at the bottom of the ramp that led into the mouth of the Red Lion, enraptured by the beautiful glow of the flora in the darkening evening sky. Reds and oranges were fading to the purples of night. It felt like they were standing among the stars.

Romelle leaned down, plucking a single flower. The light from the petals pulsed, highlighting the wonder and awe on Romelle’s face.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Allura whispered beside her, eyes glued to their surroundings.

Their reverie was broken by Kosmo, who knocked Keith off his feet and ran into the field and started rolling around.

For a second, they were all silent in their shock. And then Cosmo popped his head up, glowing petals and flower stems littering his blue fur, and his tongue lolling out of his mouth in a happy smile. Pidge snorted, falling into full-bellied laughter. Hunk wasn’t far behind her. Then Allura, Romelle, Coran, Shiro, _Keith_. Lance couldn’t help the smile from forming at the sight of the rest of the team. They were all bent over at the waist and faces turning red. Lance could see the shine of tears forming in their eyes. Warm delight spilled over in Lance’s chest as his own laughter bubbled up and he went over to Kosmo, combing the flowers out of the wolf’s fur with his fingers.

“Silly space dog,” he chuckled. The petals felt like velvet against his skin as he brushed them away. Kosmo licked his cheek in thanks before bounding back to Keith’s side.

Keith’s smile was small but fond; seeing it as he played with his excitable pet made Lance feel as though he were intruding on a private moment he shouldn’t have seen. He had never seen Keith this relaxed before. He had never seen Keith _smile_ this much before. It made for a weird feeling in his stomach the longer he looked as it jumped up into his throat with a strange buzzing resonating under his skin. It made Lance think about the anticipation of the first drop on a rollercoaster as the carts climbed higher up a steep incline.

 _He looks good when he smiles_ , Lance thought. The corners of his own smile softened.

Krolia joined her son, hand reaching to settle on the top of his head fondly. Lance could see the love in her eyes and the happiness at simply _being there_ with her son. His smile grew tight and he had to look away as his stomach dropped from his throat to his feet and twisted in the unpleasantly familiar feeling of jealousy. He needed to distract himself.

 _I could help make camp?_ He thought hesitantly. He glanced at the glowing flowers around them, at the flower Romelle had picked and tucked behind her ear. It still glowed, though a little dimmer. An idea struck him, his smile turning sad though he was excited to see the look on his niece’s face when he gave her this present.

He set to work wandering the field and picking the brightest flowers he could find, weaving with nimble fingers and expert motion. He could feel his tongue poking out between his lips as his fingers worked. Lance was so focused on his work that he failed to notice the approach of one of the others until they sat down next to him.

“Uh, hey, Shiro,” Lance stuttered, surprised by the arrival. “Shouldn’t you be resting or something?”

Shiro chuckled. “I’ve rested plenty, but I appreciate the worry.”

“So…what’s up, I guess? I mean, like, what are you doing over here? With me?” Lance’s hands stumbled over the flowers, slowing his progress down to a halt.

“You’ve been quiet recently. I just wanted to check in, make sure you were okay,” Shiro shrugged. He handed Lance more flowers like they were talking about the weather rather than Lance’s emotional state. “You must be pretty excited about going back to Earth and seeing your family again.”

Lance’s mouth felt drier than the desert the Garrison was in. He _was_ excited to go home, but…

“You know, Lance,” Shiro continued, sensing Lance’s inner turmoil, “a lot has happened to us up here. No one expects you to deal with it all yourself. We’ve been through it together, and if you need anything or want to talk about something that you don’t think your family or anyone else will understand, you can talk to one of us.”

“How do I…” Lance started but couldn’t find the words he was looking for.

How was he supposed to explain to his family the nitty gritty details? How was he supposed to tell them that he literally _died_ out there and that, if it hadn’t been for Allura’s Altean alchemy or whatever, he wouldn’t have come home at all? Should he even tell them that? He could already hear his mamá’s cries at the thought of explaining that particular situation. He could _see_ the broken look on her face, but she wouldn’t yell at him or ask him why he did it. She would just pull him down to her so that his face was buried against her neck, hold him tightly against her and run her fingers through his hair.

Taking a shaky breath, he turned to Shiro. His eyes still stung but he put on a weak smile.

Understanding filled the older man’s eyes. He didn’t hesitate to reach out with his one arm and wrap it tightly around Lance’s shoulders, brining him closer. Lance sniffled, trying to hold back his tears and keep working on the flower crowns but his vision was too blurry to properly see what he was doing.

“We have something in common,” Shiro spoke suddenly. “We’ve both died and were brought back by Allura. I…I don’t think that’s something that can be easily explained to anyone. Even family. But you don’t have to explain it to me. I already know, and I understand. Lance, any time that _this_ is bothering you, or you get overwhelmed by life, I want you to know that you can come to me about it. I’m here for you, whatever you need, and so is the rest of the team. We love you, Lance, unconditionally.”

“Thanks, Shiro,” Lance mumbled happily, absently wiping at stray tears. “This is ridiculous. Why are you so good at this?”

 “I’ve had lots of practice,” Shiro chuckled, hand squeezing his shoulder. “My fiancé had— _has_ —really bad anxiety. Some nights he’d wake up in a panic because of something that happened in a dream, and any time he had to go talk with Iverson for longer than five minutes was almost a guaranteed panic attack.”

Lance’s eyes went wide, flower crown now officially forgotten and pushed to the side so he could focus on this ever-important topic because _what?!_

“You’re engaged?! To another dude! How come I didn’t know this?”

Shiro’s eyes grew sad, but he smiled as he spoke, “Yeah, though we had a pretty big argument before I left for the Kerberos mission. We…were going through an unexpected rough patch, and things were unresolved when I left.”

“Oh,” Lance said. “I’m sorry to hear that. Are…are you going to, you know, go see him when we get back to Earth?”

“If he’ll let me,” Shiro smiled with that touch of nostalgia and love that made Lance smile in return. “I’ve really missed him, and I hate that the last time I saw him was when we were angry and upset.”

Lance nodded along. He remembered that he and Rachel had a fight not long before he had left for the Garrison the first time, and he’d felt terrible about it for months. He could only imagine how horrible he’d feel if he’d been arguing with someone he was dating.

“Um, you know,” Lance said as he pulled the flowers back to his lap and fiddled with the stems, “I’ve heard that gifts are pretty good for apologies?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to make a flower crown for him?”

“That sounds great,” Shiro laughed and lightly pushed Lance. “But, uh, you’ll have to give me a _hand_.”

Lance blinked once, twice. His jaw fell lax and his mouth hung open.

“Was…Shiro, was that a _pun_?”

\-----

Everyone had fallen asleep under the tents that Pidge and Hunk had put together. Lance found himself having as much trouble falling asleep as he’d ever had. His dreams of home as of late had become increasingly vivid and frustratingly short. His skin was often left stinging, his face wet, and a pit in his stomach the size of an entire Galra warship. He would wake up yearning for the touch of his mother and the endless comfort it provided. Lance was almost tempted to just run up and hug Krolia to try and mimic the feeling of a mother’s embrace.

He sat up and bit back the groan of frustration to avoid waking anyone prematurely.

As quietly as possible, he extracted himself from his bundle of blankets and walked away from their makeshift camp. He walked, counting the flowers he passed. It felt like trying to count the stars in the sky, impossible but worth the try. He walked far enough away that the lions and the camp were still within eyesight but were small on the horizon. It gave him a false sense of privacy.

He remembered when he had first been accepted as a student at the Garrison and received his student visa. He was young, but he knew even then that he wanted to touch the stars and find what lies beyond them. He had applied on a whim, just to see if he could make it, but he worked hard to earn an acceptance nonetheless. But the Garrison was a boarding school in America and that would mean leaving his family behind in Cuba. He remembered crying on the front porch one night, afraid of leaving his family behind and moving to a new country on his own for school, and his _abuelita_ rubbing his back and lifting his chin up, pointing a single crooked finger up at the sky.

 _Look up there,_ she had told him. _Whenever you miss us, just look up, and know that we are looking at the same stars, the same moon. We’re all under one sky, Lancito. There is no distance between us._

Lance looked at the sky now, on this strange planet in a whole other galaxy. _Not under one sky anymore, huh, abuelita?_

The sound of footsteps drew his attention away from the stars above him. Lance turned to see who was approaching. The flowers gave off enough light that he could see most of Keith’s face. It was strange, seeing him look so much older and not quite as on edge. His facial features seemed sharper, having lost the final traces of childhood softness, and his shoulders were definitely broader than they had been when he left.

_Man, what did the Marmorites feed him?_

“Food, I think,” Keith chuckled. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“Nah, too much going on up here,” Lance said, tapping the side of his head. “You?”

“Needed to pee but saw you were gone. Wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Lance huffed and held back a grin. “First Shiro, now you? I must look pretty shitty.”

Keith finally took a seat beside Lance, one eyebrow raised slightly higher than the other in question.

“I’ve just been…” Lance sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Just been thinking about my family a lot you know? I’m…I’m actually a little jealous you’ve got your mom with you because right now all I want is a hug from mine.”

“Tell me about her.”

“My mom?”

“Yeah,” Keith shrugged. “What’s she like? What does she do?”

“You sure you want to hear it?” Lance asked. Keith only nodded with a small smile that Lance was getting used to seeing. “Well, she’s the best, hands down, I’m not even sorry. She’s a nurse practitioner and I’m pretty sure she became one because she’s a bit of a hypochondriac. Having all the medical knowledge and training puts her at ease a little, I think. She takes care of _mis abuelos_ , her patients, and her kids. She’s a superhero honestly; I don’t think she knows what a day off is.

“But it never seemed like she wasn’t around, ya know? It always felt like she was right there with a smile, a hug, and a plate of freshly baked cookies. She did everything, and never complained about it—not to us, at least. She’s stubborn, and the strongest person I know.”

“She sounds amazing,” Keith told him.

“You should meet her when we get back,” Lance smiled, eyes once again focused on the stars. “She’d like you, a lot. Give you years’ worth of the whole ‘big family’ experience in a half hour.”

Keith chuckled, and Lance looked back at him. The glow of the flowers illuminated the smile on Keith’s face and making his purple eyes seem brighter, highlighting each fleck of blue, grey, and violet. It was almost like there was a halo surrounding him, calling for everyone to look upon every beautiful feature of the man sitting beside Lance. Everything that had, in the light of day, been sharp angles and rough edges were smoothed and softened by a heavenly glow.

Lance had never seen Keith look so…so…

 _Beautiful_ , his mind supplied.

His breath caught in his throat, and he felt like he was floating and drowning simultaneously. He could feel his skin raising and the tell-tale warmth of a blush crawling up his neck. His heart seemed to think it was at a gymnastics competition with the way it had sped up.

Lance’s face must have looked strange because Keith’s small smile turned downward, and his eyebrows scrunched together in concern.

“Lance? You okay?” He asked.

“Uh, y-yeah, buddy,” Lance stuttered. “I’m all good. I, uh, I think I’m going to try and sleep now. Thanks for, you know, checking up on me.”

Lance stood quickly, brushing dirt off his pants and hurrying back to their camp with a muttered goodnight.

\-----

_They’re on the beach, hot sand between toes and salt water dripping down their backs. Lance is basking in the glow of the hot summer sun and judging the quality of the waves for surfing. He had gotten a new board and wanted to show it off as much as he wanted to break it in._

_Conditions were looking pretty good. His smile widened, turning and calling to his brothers and Hunk._

_“Who’s ready to catch some waves?”_

_Hunk lumbered over carrying two surfboards and pulling a giant cooler with a picnic basket on top of it. Marco and Luis weren’t far behind, beach towels and seats and umbrellas in their arms. Marco’s cellphone was wedged between his shoulder and ear, rapid Spanish flying from his lips. Luis rolls his eyes as he dumps his pile at Lance’s feet._

_“He and Isa have been fighting on the phone all day,” Luis complained. “Is it really that hard agreeing on an apartment?”_

_Hunk laughed as he gently put the surfboards down._

_“Oh, man, dude, you would be surprised,” he said. “And not in the ‘my mom made my favorite for dinner’ way. More like the ‘I just stepped in dog shit’ kind.”_

_“Are you sure you aren’t just saying that because you helped Keith and Lance?” Pidge said, walking up to the group from the parking lot and fingers typing out a text on her phone._

_“Pidge, you made it!” Hunk grinned._

_“Excuse you! I am offended. You say that like Keith and I never agree on things,” Lance pouted._

_“You hardly do,” Pidge shrugged and tucked her phone in the pocket of her shorts._

_“Speaking of Keith,” Hunk interrupted, “where is he? I thought he said he’d be here.”_

_Lance waved off his friend’s worry. “He’s picking up Shiro and then they’re grabbing Allura, Coran, and Romelle. They’ll be here soon enough.”_

_“Ooo,_ el novio? _You didn’t tell us he was coming! We would’ve brought all your embarrassing baby photos,” Luis teased. Marco finally got off the phone with a sigh but smiled at Lance and Luis._

_“Wait, Keith’s going to be here?” He smiled conspiratorially. “I knew I should have brought Rachel’s fancy camera with us. Think of all those embarrassing moments that won’t be caught on film.”_

_“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you guys. You’re embarrassing enough_ without _preparing for it,” Lance sighed._

_The group laughed and set about setting up their home base for the beach trip. Lance’s eyes kept darting between the parking lot in the distance and the growing size of the waves. He really wanted to get out in the water, but he also wanted to be here on the sand when the others arrived. With the amount of supplies lying around and being loosely organized, it looked like they were setting up for a small army. They had certainly come with enough snacks to feed one._

_“Tío Lance!” a voice called from behind. Lance turned to see his sister-in-law, Lisa, with Nadia and Sylvio running as best they could on the sand._

_Lance moved out of the way of the group, dropped back to his knees, and flung his arms open to allow the children to tackle him to the ground. Sand went flying as his back made contact and the feet of two squirming children kicked it every which way._

_“You’re all too big,” he told them. “Stay small, stop growing up!”_

_“Never!” Nadia laughed as Lance’s fingers dug into her side._

_Suddenly the sun was blocked from the sky and Lance was looking up at Lisa’s amused face._

_“I know these kiddos are entertaining, but there’s someone else here you’re probably anxious to see,” she told him. Then she turned to her children, smoothly transforming from amused sister to exasperated mother. “You two, go help Tío Marco and Papa make sure they set everything up right. You didn’t keep an eye on them last time and the umbrella flew away, remember?”_

_“That was ONE time,” Luis called out, indignant. “We don’t need to be watched by children.”_

_“Do a better job than a child and they won’t have to watch you,” Lisa called back. The children giggled and hurried off Lance to go pester Luis. Lisa gave him a wink before following, her face above him being replaced by another very familiar one._

_Lance smiled up at the man who replaced the sun but still made him feel just as warm._

He startled awake, an alert going off on Red’s dashboard in front of him. He must have dozed off. They’d been flying for days, and would be for the next four, so he wasn’t too surprised. He blinked and rubbed at his eyes, trying to dispel his fatigue, but the warm contentment and happiness from his dream stayed with him.

Lance had been having dreams like this since that night among the flowers. He would notice little things throughout the days of endless flight about Keith that he hadn’t noticed before that he found he really liked about Keith. Like the way the longer pieces of his hair in the front would frustrate him and he had to keep pushing them out of his eyes, like the way his voice softened and took on a bit of a ‘baby-voice’ when talking to Kosmo, like the way his eyes gave away exactly how he’s feeling, like the way he let his guard down around Lance.

 _Damn,_ Lance realized, _I think…I like him?_

\-----

It stopped hurting his heart to see Allura smile or hear her laugh or see her tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. It became easier to talk with her the way they had been doing before, even if the beginnings of conversations _are_ stilted and slightly awkward. By the end of them, one or both were giggling and very much relaxed.

Allura stopped looking at him like he was a puppy she had accidently kicked and started to see him as _Lance_ , her friend and fellow paladin, again. It felt a lot better than the awkward weeks after the inevitable rejection.

But Lance would swear up and down that the universe had it out for him, because the pain of seeing Allura was replaced with a different, more pleasant kind of pain whenever he saw Keith.

Lance had known that, back in their Garrison days, Keith was, objectively, cute. He had a nice ass and a pretty face and _purple eyes for fuck’s sake_. Overall, he was nice-looking, and Lance knew that. He had always known that and been extremely uncomfortable with that fact. Mostly because he’d been uncomfortable with the fact that he actually felt a level of attraction for guys that he wasn’t supposed to feel. At least not according to his very religious and very vocal Great-Aunt Carmen, who had her son sent to conversion therapy and then disowned him when it (shockingly) hadn’t worked. Lance was glad he only ever saw her once a year; she always looked at him with a gleam in her eye and a scowl on her face like she somehow _knew_.

But that wasn’t the point. The point was that Keith was no longer just cute. He was full-on _hot_ with a rugged look, totally pulling off the whole ‘bad boy with a heart of gold’ vibe which was one hundred percent Lance’s weakness.

He was so _screwed_.

\-----

Lance asks Shiro to join him in the Red Lion the next time they take a pit stop, and he’s relieved when the man doesn’t ask why.

The first hour is mostly silent as Lance works up the courage to broach the subject that has been weighing heavily on his mind. He fiddles with Red’s controls and bounces his leg. His mouth opens and closes several times as he tries to find the words he’s looking for. The silence was growing heavy and closed in around Lance, squeezing him tighter until eventually what spills out of his mouth is:

 “I think I like guys and I don’t know what to do, please help me.”

 Shiro straight up laughs good naturedly beside him. The hand that had been resting on the back of the pilot’s chair moved down to rest on Lance’s shoulder.

“Thank you for feeling comfortable enough to trust me with this, but…what exactly is it you’re asking help for?”

“I-I don’t know! Everything? Like, ninety percent of my family is _super_ Catholic. My mamá is pretty chill and so are my siblings, but, like, my Great-Aunt Carmen? Nuh-uh. Neither is Tío Julio and he’s _so_ cool, and, just—how am I supposed to tell them? How could I ever bring a _boy_ home to that? And how am I even supposed to tell if a guy is straight or not anyway? How do I know that I have a chance? _Aye Dios mio_ , how do I know this isn’t just all in my head?! How am I supposed to know for sure that I really am, you know, attracted to guys, and not just—just—just _experimenting_ or some shit?”

Lance looked up at Shiro in a panic. His breathing was becoming spastic, more labored, and he could feel the spike in his heartrate as it felt like his chest cavity was collapsing in on itself. Shiro’s bright laughter had long since ceased and was replaced by a piercing, soul-searching gaze. It was as if Shiro was extracting all of Lance’s fear and worry to reveal the truth that lay untouched beneath.

“I’m sorry that there’s no one good answer to give you, Lance. But I do want you to know that it is _okay_ to be a man who is attracted to other men. You’re still _Lance_ , a Paladin of Voltron and a boy from Cuba and someone who is always there for his friends. Nothing about that has changed. Nothing about what makes you _you_ has changed. This is just another piece of the million-piece puzzle that makes up Lance. From everything you’ve told us about your family, Lance, I can guarantee you that your family _loves_ you and every piece of that puzzle; they’re some of the people who are helping you find those pieces. In the end, it’s something beautiful, and unique, and _you_.

“I wish someone had told me that when I first realized I liked men. My parents were very…traditional, and for a long time I felt terrible because I felt like there was something wrong with me. But then I met Adam, and all I wanted to do was share my love for him with everyone. When I told them that I was dating a man, my mother looked at me like…like I was a stranger. She yelled and cried, and I just kept feeling terrible because I wasn’t the son they wanted me to be. She made me _feel_ like a stranger. And that’s not right.

“I spent the next few years coming to the realization that it was my _parents_ who were wrong, not me. Having Adam with me helped. I just—I need you to know that there is nothing, _nothing_ , wrong with you. It’s the people who say otherwise that are all mixed up,” Shiro said sternly, holding Lance’s gaze and keeping a firm grip on his shoulder.

Lance could see the tell-tale signs of tears beginning to fall on Shiro’s face. He could feel the warm wetness on his own. He hadn’t even realized he had started crying. He tried to tell Shiro thank you, but all that came out was an odd gurgling sound, so he settled on nodding instead. Neither of them said anything as Lance gathered his composure.

“I…I’ve never…I’ve never told a-anyone before,” Lance stuttered through shaky breaths. Laughter bubbles up as more tears spilled over. “I’ve never said it _out loud_ before.”

Shiro’s features relax into a fond smile. His eyes glint with pride and mischief alike.

“Feels good, right?” Lance nods and his smile is so wide it _hurts_ and he’s sure he looks a little insane. “Like a weight’s been lifted off your chest?”

“Yeah, exactly like that,” Lance laughed. “ _Holy shit_!”

Things grow silent again. They watch the approach of planets in the distance, and they watch the planets they pass go by, and they watch the vastness of space and the other Lions flying with them. The silence between them isn’t uncomfortable; in fact, it’s companionable and reminds Lance of the occasions when his house would fall quiet in the hours before bed. It was warm like winter nights sat beside a fire and wrapped in a large quilted blanket.

“Hey, Lance?” Shiro asks suddenly. Lance hums a noise of acknowledgement, signaling Shiro to continue talking. “Do you mind telling me what brought this on all of a sudden?”

“Oh,” Lance says, eyes growing wide. The nerves in his fingers and in the back of his neck catch fire, and the muscles in his shoulders have tensed. “Uh, well, I…”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” Shiro reassured. “I just want to make sure everything’s alright.”

“No! No, uh, everything is fine, I’ve just,” Lance swallowed, biting the inside of his cheek, “I’ve just been thinking a lot about…about how to tell my family because I, uh, think I maybe probably likeKeithalotandIwannakisshisface.”

Lance had mumbled the last part so quickly that Shiro had leaned forward to give him the full extent of his exasperated confusion, eyebrows drawn tight together and mouth slightly open with an amused smile. Lance pursed his lips and refused to meet the older man’s gaze. He cleared his throat and fiddled with some unnecessary controls.

“I, uh, said that I think I…really like Keith,” Lance whispered, keeping his eyes on the controls and biting his lower lip.

“I see,” Shiro said, and Lance could hear an undercurrent of smugness and teasing in his tone that older brothers tended to use. “So…Keith, huh?”

Lance’s face, already covered in splotchy red patches from crying earlier, burns up to his ears.

“Yeah,” his voice comes out nervous and breathy. “Keith.”

\-----

Lance is exhausted by the time they’ve entered the solar system. They’ve just passed Neptune and are speeding ever closer to the blues and greens of his home planet that he’s longed to see since the moment they were launched into space. But all he can think about right now is curling up in a bed—he doesn’t particularly care if it belongs to him or not right now—and taking a long nap.

“There it is,” Pidge’s voice says with a dreamy tone over the comms.

Lance can hear a more distant sounding Krolia from Keith’s end whisper out, “It looks just like I remember…”

“We’re really here,” Lance sighs. “We’re really home.”

\-----

It was raining.

It was truly, without-a-doubt, genuinely pouring the day they finally landed on Earth’s soil after months of endless flying. As soon as the lions had descended through the clouds into a rainstorm, Lance couldn’t stop the disbelieving laugh that escaped his lips. He stared out Red’s windshield to the fat drops of water relentlessly pelting the face and body of the Red Lion with a smile so wide that his cheeks were beginning to hurt.

The video comms popped up in front of Lance’s eyes, but he kept his focus on the water that’s building up behind it.

Pidge’s glasses were as crooked as her smile, eyes shining as she told them, “Dad got the head’s up about our arrival, so the Garrison should know we’re coming.”

“Do you think they told our families we were coming?” Hunk asked, his smile just as wide but the twitch at the corners giving away his worry.

“If they didn’t,” Pidge scowled, “I’m willing to bet my mom gave them hell and told them herself.”

Lance had never met Pidge’s mom, so in his head he was imagining a woman who looked a lot like Pidge ripping Iverson a new asshole and pulling him down to her height by the ear so that she could scream directly into it. Lance looked at the faces of his friends on the screen.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out, right?” He said slyly. “Last one to land is a rotten egg!”

Lance pushed Red to go faster as Pidge screamed indignantly and Hunk groaned. Allura just laughed. Lance looked at the others in the video comm and saw Keith’s patented cocky smirk. He felt a strange but pleasant burning in the pit of his stomach at the resurgence of Keith’s competitive cockiness.

“Game on, Sharpshooter,” Keith said. “See you on the ground!”

A streak of black pulled just a little further in front of Lance, who huffed in protest. Red’s amusement was palpable as Lance urged the lion faster and faster until he overtook the lead once more. He could still hear Pidge’s cursing and complaints that Lance was cheating by having the fastest lion and Hunk’s own complaints that he was already at a disadvantage with having the bulkiest of the lions. But Lance tuned them all out, his sole focus on _Keith_ and the pleased pride he felt at getting a reaction out of him.

He was falling faster than he thought.

Literally and figuratively.

The ground had suddenly become a lot closer than it had been a few seconds ago and Lance pulled up on the controls as hard as he could to soften the landing. Playful complaints from Red echoed throughout his body in that strange lion-human communication way, but Red landed roughly on his paws milliseconds before the Black Lion landed much more smoothly beside him. Lance whooped in victory, doing a small and exaggerated dance in his pilot’s seat since the video comms were still on.

Keith’s laugh came through clear and sharp, and Lance thought it was decidedly the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard, right up next to his mamá’s singing.

Pidge and Allura touched down on Lance’s other side and Hunk on Keith’s, Pidge looking incredibly smug in her section of his screen. Lance did not appreciate the knowing look she kept sending him or Allura’s overly-innocent smile. Hunk was pointedly looking away from the screen and shrugged sheepishly as if he could feel Lance’s stare through the camera. Lance rolled his eyes and tried to obscure the rosy hue that had taken root in his cheeks and refocus his attention to the Garrison’s campus not too far from them.

He was used to having fleeting crushes on a pretty face, but this was quickly turning into another Allura-situation, and Lance wasn’t exactly looking forward to having his heart broken again. Plus, he wanted to be one hundred percent, absolutely, no-doubt-about-it _sure_ that he liked Keith because he was _Keith,_ and not just because he was there and paying attention to Lance. He didn’t want to be the dick who rebounded on the nearest available pretty face. When Lance told Hunk that, Hunk had given him the most deadpan look he had ever seen—and he’d seen _Keith’s_ and that’s pretty hard to beat—and told Lance that it had been more than seven months since he stopped mooning over Allura.

 _“It’s not a rebound anymore dude,” Hunk said. “You_ still _like him and you find something new to gush about every day—which is actually impressive by the way because, uh, you’ve talked about Keith a lot, and I mean_ a lot _.”_

Hunk’s words were echoing through his brain like it was the ball in that old retro ping pong computer game Lance’s great-grandparents had played as Red’s head lowered to the ground and the ramp was dropped. He got out of his seat, took a deep breath, and put a hand on top of Kaltenecker’s head. He banished thoughts of Keith and crushes and just enjoyed the fact that he was on Earth and it was _raining_.

“Welcome to Earth, buddy. I’ll be back once I know where you’re staying,” Lance told the cow before he headed for the exit.

Everyone who had ridden in the Black and Blue Lions were all already on the ground, damp and taking shelter under the Black Lion, watching the bobbing umbrellas approaching from the Garrison. Pidge was stumbling down the ramp of Green with wires from her various projects tangled around her ankles, and Yellow’s ramp was still lowering. Lance did his best to walk with a mature confident swagger, but he slipped halfway down. The sound of his armor hitting against the metal of his lion drew the attention of the others who watched as Lance slid with the grace of a baby deer on ice.

“Well, that’s one way to make an entrance,” Pidge called over the rain as the first of the cars pulled up and a door opened.

Samuel Holt stepped out from behind Admiral Sanda. He was wearing one of his old Garrison Commander uniforms but other than that he looked exactly as he had when they had said goodbye on the castleship. He held out an extra umbrella and hurried to meet them with a grin on his face.

“Pidge-Podge, it’s good to see you!” he said, pulling his daughter into a one-armed hug. He turned to the others gathered in the rain. “We have umbrellas for everyone. It won’t be a long walk, though.”

Lance cleared his throat as he stood, wiping the mud from his legs as best he could as the rain pelted his face.

“Um, Mr. Holt?” he asked. “Were our families…?”

Sam smiled at Lance and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I personally delivered the video messages you all gave me, and I made sure they were all told about your return as soon as I got Pidge’s message. They’re waiting back at the base,” Sam told him kindly. Lance was really glad it was raining so hard because he couldn’t stop the tears from spilling over to mingle with the rainwater already present on his face.

“Thank you,” he said quietly and sincerely, putting as much emotion into the words as possible. There was nothing else he could do to convey how much it meant to him that his family put in the money, time, and effort to be here for when he came back. “You have no idea how grateful I am.”

“Best not to keep them waiting any longer then, yeah?” Sam whispered as an umbrella was offered to Lance. He nodded, smiled, and quickly opened it so he could get to the Garrison’s main building as fast as possible.

It wasn’t long before the sound of the rain pounding against the fabric of the umbrella stopped and he stepped into the vehicle hangar of the Garrison. Lance hadn’t even realized just how close they really were to the base; it was hard to judge when everything was just barren desert and blurred further by rain. Every wall was filled with the memories of a bright eyed and bushy tailed twelve-years-old Lance with dreams bigger than the moon and the next five years he spent working to achieve them. Yet it felt just as alien to be in the edges of the Garrison as it had on each planet Voltron visited, despite its overwhelming familiarity. The Garrison had always been a cold building to Lance; it had never felt like home, no matter the years spent as a student at the militaristic boarding school. Even so, Lance would take what he could get, and his family was waiting within those cold walls with the warm welcome he’d been longing for.

\-----

The team was paraded through the building. Students and faculty alike lined the halls, watching, whispering, applauding. Lance kept up a shaky smile, even waving at faces he recognized from classes that felt like a millennium ago, as he walked next to Keith. Keith didn’t entertain the masses that gawked at him and Krolia who was on his other side and matching pace with ease. He only kept his eyes straight ahead, glowering at the back of Iverson’s head the few feet in front of them as he escorted them to where their families were waiting.

Lance watched the two out of the corner of his eye. They had fallen into a stony silence together, Keith looking like a shadow of his mother with the way both their eyes narrowed in focus and their jaws set with wary determination. In a way, it was adorable. Lance could easily picture a toddler Keith in another universe waddling around trying to imitate her.

Behind them, Allura and Romelle were on either side of Shiro, taking in the multitude of human beings and everything the Garrison hallways had to offer. Shiro would quietly point out places of personal significance that made Lance snort when they were accompanied by brief stories of his and Matt’s cadet days like he was teaching a history lesson. In front of them, Pidge and Hunk were eagerly explaining to a very interested Coran about how they could use what technology where and what would likely need to be modified to achieve what they wanted in the process of building the new castleship. They even talked about potentially dismantling one of the flight simulators.

Professors Iverson and Montgomery were walking ahead of them all with Sam, though Lance could see the veins on the side of Iverson’s head popping out far enough that Lance could only guess was the result of trying to bite back a response to Pidge and Hunk discussing taking apart his training equipment.

Eventually the crowds along the sides of the hallways thinned out and they came to the door that opened to the front lobby. Lance could _feel_ his mamá’s arms around him already. He wanted to push forward, shove the people in front of him out of the way, and feel his family’s embrace. The only thing stopping him from doing so was Keith’s hand, which came up to grip Lance’s shoulder. His fidgeting fingers stilled, and left hand came up to grip the hand on his shoulder and squeeze it gratefully. Swallowing the little spit he had left in his mouth, Lance prepared himself to greet his family as the door before them slid open.

His breathing hitched as his eyes immediately found his mother’s, tears filling both their eyes.

“Tsuyoshi!” another woman called out, rushing Hunk with a bone-crushing hug, while Pidge dashed forward to wrap her arms around her own mother.

Lance’s mother took a couple steps forward, staring at him like he might disappear any second. Her mouth moved but no sound came out. Lance walked until he was right in front of her.

“Mamá,” Lance’s voice broke as his tears spilled over, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. His mamá let out a wet laugh and surged forward. Her arms wrapped so tightly around him that he struggled to breath. His own grip on her was firm but gentler. He never wanted to forget this feeling of being home in his mother’s arms.

“ _Mijo_ ,” she whispered hoarsely. “My baby, you’re really here.”

She pulled back just far enough to clasp his face between her hands and wipe away his tears softly with the pads of her thumbs. Her eyes roamed over his face with the hungry desperation only a woman who believed she would never see her son again could have. Lance’s smile shook as his lips began to wobble, and he could taste the salt of his own tears as some slipped past his mother’s thumbs and to the corners of his lips. He gripped her wrists tightly.

“I’m here, I’m home,” he told her, thumbs running over her pulse points. He looked over her shoulder to see Veronica, Marco, Rachel, and Luis impatiently waiting for their turn but respecting his moment with their mother. He smiled at them, Marco and Luis crying unashamedly and Rachel wiping her eyes carefully. He released one of his mother’s wrists and held out the arm to invite them in to the hug.

Rachel rushed in, Marco and Luis squishing in behind her while Veronica gently completed the hug. Their mother let go of Lance, stepping back as Lance toppled with his older siblings. All five were laughing, Marco not hesitating to trap Lance in a headlock. Veronica pinched his cheeks as hard as she could with a relieved sort of anger while Luis wiped his snot on Lance’s shoulder. Rachel was carefully trying to extract her hair from underneath Luis and Veronica, small ‘ow’s sprinkled in between their joyful cries.

“It’s good to have you back, _hermanito_ ,” Veronica’s eyes were soft and red-rimmed behind her glasses, and her voice cracked when she talked.

“For however long you’re here,” Luis added before his cries started up again. Marco graced him with a softer-than-usual noogie, and Rachel just squeezed him tighter with her face pressed against his neck.

Lance sighed, content and never wanting to leave. He started laughing all over again.

“I missed you guys,” he chuckled.

\-----

Allura and Coran talked logistics of the castleship’s rebuilding with the Garrison engineers, translating the Altean notes on the blueprints they had given to Sam and estimating just how quickly they would be able to build with the resources available to them. They had the Lions of Voltron with them, which meant if there _was_ something that Earth couldn’t provide, it wouldn’t be totally inconceivable to get what they needed somewhere else (though they would try to avoid needing to as much as possible).

Ultimately, it meant that the Paladins were just as confined to the Garrison as the people building the new castleship for the next handful of months at the very least.

Lance is disappointed, but he tries not to show just how much. He’d been looking forward to going back to Cuba and seeing the rest of his family since not everyone had been able to afford the cost or get the time off work to come to him. He debated about asking anyway, but a voice in his head kept repeating that he piloted the fastest lion which meant if they needed something off-planet, he was going to be the one to go get it.

_Or maybe Keith could—_

Lance’s thoughts were cut off by Marco launching himself onto Lance’s back. Almost instinctually, Lance gripped one of Marco’s arms, twisted his hips, and flipped his brother over his shoulder. He hit the ground hard. Marco groaned.

“ _Omigod!_ ” Lance exclaims. Keith, Shiro, and another dark-skinned man who Lance assumed to be Adam, all of whom had been talking about something down the hall, turned in surprise. “Marco! I’m so sorry!”

Marco waved off Lance’s attempts to help him up.

“I surprised you, man,” Marco groaned as he caught his breath and pushed himself back up to his feet. “I should’ve known better. You’ve been fighting tyrannical purple aliens, after all.”

Lance bit his lip, still feeling guilty.

He looked down the hall, catching Keith’s eyes. Keith raised an eyebrow in question and Lance could hear the _are you okay_ from where he stood. He tried to tell him that he was okay, but Keith came down the hall anyway, exiting the conversation he’d been having without a word.

Marco made a show of dusting himself off to display just how fine he was after being thrown onto the ground when he noticed Keith’s approach. He reached out a hand and smiled.

“Hey, I’m pretty sure we haven’t met yet. I’m Marco, Lance’s older brother,” Marco introduced. Keith took his hand and nodded.

“Keith.”

Marco’s eyes widened just a fraction, turning to look at Lance but only seeing his younger brother’s dumbfounded face focused on Keith. His eyes flitted between the two before realization settled and a wicked grin took control of his features.

“Keith, huh?” Marco started as Lance began to put the pieces together of what introducing Keith to his family really _meant_. “I recognize that name. Hey, Lance, didn’t you used to spend _hours_ upon _hours_ talking about a Keith?”

It was official. Lance wanted to die. He wanted to melt right into the floor and become a puddle for the janitor to clean up.

“¡Oi, Rachel, Luis!” Luis called out in the general direction the two McClain siblings were engaged in conversation with Pidge, Hunk, and Romelle. “Come meet _Keith_!”

Luis and Rachel were quick to appear to Marco’s call, his teasing tone enticing the other two to see what he could be embarrassing Lance about. When they arrived, both shaking Keith’s hand and introducing themselves, they saw just how red their youngest brother’s face had grown over his dark skin. Sometimes actions were louder than words, and Lance was a prime example. Shiro may have been the first person Lance had managed to tell about his attraction to men, but his immediate family had certainly taken notice of where the boy’s eyes would sometimes linger during the summers he was home from the Garrison. Looking at Lance now, all three siblings could tell where his current affections lie.

“It’s nice to meet you, Keith,” Rachel said politely, though her handshake was firm, nails digging into the back of Keith’s hand as a silent threat—one Keith either didn’t realize the meaning of or was unfazed by it.

“Likewise,” Keith told her. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you all.”

Lance looked taken aback at that.

“You have?” He asked. “ _Why_?”

Keith turned his smile onto Lance and _damn_ did he hate that Keith was taller than him now, even if it was half-an-inch. He isn’t sure what exactly happened between Keith leaving and returning to Voltron, but whatever it was, Lance _was not_ happy about it. It wasn’t even that much height difference, but it was _just_ enough that Lance was now noticeably the shorter of the two.

“Well, for one,” Keith chuckled, that unfairly attractive smirk on his face, “you said they’d give me the ‘big family’ experience. Besides, they’re your family. Why wouldn’t I want to meet them?”

Lance was left speechless while his twin sister propped her elbow up on Lance’s shoulder and not-so-discreetly whispered.

“I like him; you should keep him.”

“Seconded,” Marco and Luis echoed.

It was the first time that Lance saw Keith look the slightest bit embarrassed. His blush ran all the way down his neck, with his ears being bright pink at the tips. They caught each other’s eyes and just laughed nervously, both clearly more than a little uncomfortable with what the siblings were insinuating.

Thankfully, a sizeable space wolf with strange teleportation abilities was on hand to relieve them of the tension.

Kosmo dropped onto his hind legs behind Keith, placing his front paws over Keith’s shoulders and pushing him forward. Keith caught himself before he fully hit the ground, but Kosmo had done his duty of letting him know he was bored and wanted to play. The wolf took off down a random hall before Keith could do anything but stand back up.

“Something tells me he wants your attention, dude,” Lance told him as Keith muttered an irritated but fond “Damn wolf.”

Keith took off after Kosmo with a rushed _see you later_ , and Lance turned back to his siblings who all had varying reactions of wonder, horror, and concern.

“ _What_ in hell _was_ _that_?” Marco screeched.

“It was so cute!” Rachel cooed like she was talking to their niece Nadia.

“We’re not going to get some space sickness from being around it, right?” Luis asked, already backed up against the opposite wall.

Lance just laughed, happy to be home.

\-----

It was a few weeks into construction of the new castleship. Both Lance’s and Hunk’s families had left to go back to their homes but not without the promise of coming back to see them off once they had to leave again. Lance’s mother had threatened Lance with her sandal the way his _abuelita_ used to when he or his siblings slacked off on their chores, telling him that he’d better video call with them once a week until they left if he wasn’t going to be able to visit them in Cuba. Lance would admit that he cried because it was a part of his mom that he had missed. He wasn’t sure how he’d be able to leave again, but at least this time his family _knew_ he was leaving.

He spent a lot of his free time with Keith and Kosmo. Hunk and Pidge were either helping with the construction process—something neither Keith nor Lance would be much help with—or designing Shiro a new arm to replace the one Haggar had given him, also something Keith and Lance could provide no help for. Shiro himself was recuperating and reconnecting with the fiancé he had left behind on Earth when he’d gone on the Kerberos mission. Both Lance and Keith wanted to respect their privacy and not bother them.

Lance didn’t mind though, and it seemed as though Keith didn’t mind either. When they didn’t feel like lazing around the Garrison pretending to be useful, they’d run outside with Kosmo for some exercise or visit Keith’s shack and see Krolia, who preferred to stay there rather than in the Garrison.

Krolia had changed out of her empirical soldier’s uniform and into some Earth clothes that had been in the shack. Lance distinctly remembered the look on both Krolia’s and Keith’s faces when he and Keith had shown up and saw her in them outside the shack the first time. There was a strange flash of recognition in Keith’s eyes and a faraway look in Krolia’s that made Lance believe that they may have been hers from when she’d first come to Earth.

Lance was surprised by just how human it made her look despite her purple skin and alien markings.

It was one of the days when the two had decided to take a trip out to see Krolia that Keith decided to take a detour.

Lance’s arms were wrapped tightly around Keith’s waist as the man took the sharp unexpected turn to keep himself from falling off the hoverbike. He was headed straight for the town near the Garrison.

“Keith?” Lance asked over the wind whipping around them as Keith picked up speed. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise, just trust me!” Keith smirked.

The town buildings started to blur together as Keith broke all kinds of speed limits. Lance could feel the cheer building in his lungs. Keith _knew_ Lance enjoyed the speed and the way it almost hurt to breath as they zipped down the streets. Lance’s carefully trimmed nails dug harshly into Keith’s side through the fabric of his shirt. He leaned forward, pushed himself up a little, and whooped as Keith sped impossibly faster to beat the red light.

Lance was shocked they hadn’t attracted the attention of the local police with the way Keith drove.

They weren’t driving for much longer, Keith pushing the hoverbike as if he were flying the Red Lion. As Keith parked the bike outside a fenced off area, Lance looked around for any clues as to where they were. Much to Lance’s disappointment, aside from the couple lengths of thick invasive ivy vines growing and twisting amongst the wrought iron fences effectively blocking his view of what’s inside, there wasn’t much to take in.

“Sooooo,” Lance drawled. “Where are we?”

Keith didn’t answer, just walking off towards a gate and gesturing for Lance to follow. His lips pursed as he followed, hurrying so that he could walk beside Keith instead of behind. His eyes kept scanning for any clues as to where they were. As they neared the gate, he finally found a sign that said—

“A cemetery? Keith,” Lance grabbed his friend’s elbow, pulling him to a stop. “Why are we here?”

“I want to show you something,” Keith shrugged like they were headed into a dog park.

Lance walked beside him as the gate creaked open, as they passed more headstones than Lance had ever seen in his life, as Keith reached his hand over hesitantly and linked their pinkies which made Lance’s heart skip a beat. The skin contact was minimal, but Lance would have sworn up and down the streets that Keith had the warmest hands.

Keith stopped them in front of one made of a dark stone.

_Akira T. Kogane_

_20XX – 20XX_

_Father, Brother, and Friend_

_Forever in Our Hearts_

“Keith?”

The rest of Keith’s hand found its way into Lance’s, Keith’s gloved palm pressed firmly against his own bare one. Keith took a deep breath.

“My dad was a firefighter,” he started. “We lived in this ranch-style house that used to belong to my grandfather. It was way too big for just the two of us, but my dad…he always made sure I never felt lonely whenever he was home. He took me around the station, I got to sit in the driver’s seat of a firetruck. He saved people all the time—he was a superhero to me. I wanted to be just like him.

“I was eight, when he died. He was rarely on duty at night so that he could be home with me, but there was this one night where they were shorthanded. Most were voluntary fighters, you know? I got hungry and I was stubborn. I could’ve just made a sandwich, but I really wanted mac and cheese. We had a gas stove, and I forgot to turn it off when I was done. I fell asleep in his bed waiting for him to get home. I don’t even know what caught fire first, but the next thing I knew…everything was hot, there was smoke, and I could hear my dad calling for me from the hallway.”

Lance threaded his fingers between Keith’s and squeezed his limp hand as hard as he could. Lance stared at Keith’s profile and the shiny track of tears down his face. He didn’t say a word as Keith took a steadying breath.

“He really did look like a superhero coming through the flames and smoke. I’d never…I’d never seen my dad scared before, not once. But he looked terrified when he picked me up. He held me tight and headed down the stairs and everything was fine. And then it wasn’t. The house was old, some of the wood had rotted. We were almost to the main floor when the step gave out. I went rolling on the floor, but…he was already tired from working all day and most of the night and it wasn’t like he was still decked out in full uniform you know? He got stuck under the debris.”

Keith turned to look Lance in the eye. He was shocked to find that the whites of Keith’s eyes had turned a pale yellow and his skin seemed to take on a purple hue with Keith’s emotions running so high.

Lance squeezed Keith’s hand to stop himself from jerking away out of surprise. He didn’t want to scare Keith away, not when he was opening up with something so close to his heart. Lance was touched and honored that Keith was allowing him this far in.

“He didn’t make it, obviously. The shack is all that’s left of the property. Unfortunately, you can’t let an eight-year-old boy live on his own in the little add-on his dad kept his equipment and extra uniforms in. I was put in the system, lived in a group home until I was twelve, which was when I met Shiro. I…didn’t handle it well. And problem children don’t get placed in nice homes,” Keith sighed. Lance waited for him to continue, but Keith only squeezed his hand.

“He sounds like a great person,” Lance said, not knowing what to say that wouldn’t come out wrong. “Not like my dad.”

Keith rubbed at the stray tears drying on his cheeks, eyebrows drawn together. His eyes burned with questions and a determination not to ask if Lance wasn’t up to sharing.

“Since we’re sharing about tragic pasts, my dad skipped out on us, not long after Rachel and I were born. Well, I say he skipped out on us, but it was more Mamá caught him cheating and he had this whole second family. She was devastated, kicked him right out. It was…a messy divorce. Emotions were high. He said things, Mamá said things, _Abuelita_ said many things. In the end though Mamá got full custody, and my father sends checks once a year. I have three half-siblings I’ve never met because I’ve been so mad at my father.

“I don’t even know if they know about us. There was this one time, after a fight with my mom and Marco, I was just so angry. I was fifteen, home for the summer, and decided I would find him. And I did. I ended up parked across the street from a nice little house, with three girls playing in the yard, a pretty woman in a garden, and him content as can be. It stung to see them, worse than whatever fight it was I had back at home. The oldest of the girls was probably around Veronica’s age and the youngest maybe a few years younger than me. I was angry all over again, but this time at _him_ because he had the nerve to leave us behind and have our life with some other family.”

“What did you do?” Keith’s voice was quiet, eyes closely looking over Lance’s face.

But Lance had years of talking about this in therapy under his belt. His face was schooled into a stone of practiced indifference.

“I turned around, drove home. Apologized for leaving without a word and gave my mamá the biggest hug. It just reminded me of how much she does by herself, you know?”

Keith squeezed his hand impossibly harder, his thumb running calming circles on the back of his hand. Lance smiled at him, grateful and filled with affection. Keith’s eyes became normal once more and his skin returned to its usual pallor.

“I never would’ve guessed. Whenever you talk about your family, you’re always so—”

“So _not_ like my dad totally broke us and we had to stitch ourselves back together?”

“Lance—”

Lance’s eyes widened with an idea, and he released Keith’s hand. Keith made a noise of protest and confusion, but Lance just kneeled at the grave.

“Um, Mr. Kogane, sir? I’m—I’m Lance. A friend of Keith’s. He’s pretty cool, I guess. I’d say he gets it from his mom, but from what he said about you, you seem pretty cool too. Must be genetic. I wish I could’ve met you, so I could tell you in person that your son is the most stubborn, loyal, recklessly brave asshole I have ever met,” Lance turned to look up at Keith’s face which was frozen in shock and disbelief. “I trust him with my life, and I’m glad he trusted me with this, because he’s—because he’s one of the greatest people in my life. I’m really lucky to have him.”

Keith pulled Lance roughly up to his feet and into a vice grip that was probably supposed to be a hug but felt more like he was trying to pop Lance’s eyeballs out of their sockets. He returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm, and he could’ve sworn he heard Keith mumble into the space between his neck and shoulder where he’d nestled his face a quiet _you’re amazing_.

\-----

Lance thought he’d seen all the surprises Keith had up his sleeves. He had been very sure that Keith Kogane could no longer blindside him.

Apparently, he was very wrong.

Lance knew something was up the minute he woke up in his temporary Garrison-issued room and saw that Hunk was still there. Lance usually woke up after he did, and Hunk was usually gone by the time he returned to the conscious world. After getting dressed and eating breakfast, Hunk had impatiently ushered him outside the cafeteria where they met up with Pidge. Both of them wore the same look they did whenever they had teased Lance about Allura.

“Guys, seriously, what’s going on?” he asked, somewhat irritated by the secrecy, especially since Hunk was terrible with secrets.

“You’ll know in a couple minutes, sheesh,” Pidge grouched but the smile remained on their face, letting Lance know she wasn’t really annoyed.

Lance pouted but allowed himself to be lead a few more feet without complaint.

“Okay, yeah, no,” Lance came to a stop, heels digging into the ground. “I want to know what’s going on and why you two aren’t spending every waking moment working on the new castleship. I thought you wanted to finish it as fast as possible?”

Pidge rolled their eyes and adjusted their glasses.

“Of course we do, but this is important,” they told him, grabbing him by the elbow and pulling him along. “Now come on, we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

“Them? Them who?” Lance asked. “Hunk, buddy, my man?”

“Sorry, dude, I don’t want to spoil the surprise,” Hunk mimed zipping his mouth shut. “You’re going to love it though, promise!”

They kept walking until they were walking out of the Garrison through the garage, heading further into the surrounding desert. Lance was thoroughly confused by this point and getting more nervous about whatever this surprise was since the longer they walked it just seemed like they brought him out here to kill him and leave his corpse to waste away in the desert heat.

He was about to start his questions _again_ when the wind picked up and a large shadow fell over the three. Much to his surprise, Lance looked up to see the Red Lion descending from the sky. There was only one other person Lance knew of that Red would have let take him for a joy ride. He was _beyond_ confused when Keith stepped out, Kosmo by his side, and a backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Keith?” Lance asked hesitantly. “What—?”

“We’re going on a trip,” Keith interrupted quickly, his cheeks turning red. “To Cuba. To see your family.”

Lance’s eyes widened in surprise, a tell-tale stinging behind his eyes. With a sharp inhale, he stuttered out a weak protest to suddenly leaving.

“But—”

“I got permission from Allura. They’re not going to need anything off-planet anytime soon, and even if they do, well, Red’s the fastest lion and we can be back at a moment’s notice. Besides, here to Cuba and back is nothing compared to the trip we took to get to Earth,” Keith explained quickly, words running into each other like they were in a very competitive foot race. Lance smiled so wide he was almost worried he would pull a muscle in his face.

“Let me make sure I have everything,” Lance spoke slowly, “and then we can get going.”

\-----

Lance had called his mama to tell her that they were coming for a visit. He may have also potentially lost hearing in his right ear from the shriek of joy that came through the receiver. It only got louder from there, so Lance gave her a quick goodbye along with an estimate of when they’d be there.

He was so excited to see them, some for the first time in a while. Keith was in the pilot’s seat which just meant that Lance could flit around the cockpit double, triple, quadruple checking that he had everything he wanted to bring to his family’s home: there was the pretty necklace he had picked up for his mamá, the flower crowns he had strung together as well as a couple toy blasters that looked like his bayard for Nadia and Sylvio, a pair of smooth blue Altean earrings from ten thousand years ago for Veronica and a pair of matching lilac ones for Rachel, a portable holo-sphere for his _abuelita_ that projected a picture of Lance with the rest of Voltron, a small Balmera crystal the size of a pebble for Marco, and a copy of the Voltron shows for Luis (no matter how embarrassing they were).

He was taking inventory of the gifts for the fifth time when Keith spoke up.

“We’re here.”

Lance abandoned the pile of stuff and went to stand beside the pilot’s seat. He stared at the white sandy beaches and impossibly clear waters.

“Where should I land?” Keith asked softly.

Lance didn’t answer, just motioned for him to get up. Keith complied, disrupting Kosmo’s nap at the foot of the seat. Lance took over the controls, maneuvering Red quietly and smoothly. No matter how long Lance had been away, he still knew it like the back of his hand. He directed Red on muscle memory alone with the more he recognized. Gently, he landed Red on a small secluded section of privately-owned beach.

As Red lowered his head to the ground and the ramp extended into the sand, Lance stood and faced Keith. He gathered all the courage within him and the adrenaline rush he was feeling from being _home_. Before Keith could react, Lance not-so-gently placed a quick kiss to the pale skin of Keith’s left cheek.

He muttered a quick thanks to a shocked Keith before turning tail and dashing out of the lion as fast as possible (hopefully before Keith saw the blush in his face or the flustered expression he wore).

Keith’s left hand absently reached up to barely brush the spot where Lance’s lips had met his reddening cheek. He bit his lip to stop the goofy smile from spreading any further than it already had as he stared at the empty space at the top of the ramp. Kosmo yawned and stared at Keith for a few seconds as if he were waiting for something before trotting off after Lance. Then the thought occurred to him that Lance w _as not_ going to wait up for Keith and he didn’t know how to get to wherever Lance’s family lived.

He gathered the box Lance had put the gifts for his family into his arms and dashed out of Red to catch up to a red-faced Lance, who wasn’t as far away as Keith had feared he might be.

“Oh shit, I forgot to grab that!” Lance exclaimed, moving to take it from Keith. “Thanks. Again.”

“What, no kiss this time?” Keith blurted out, still riding the high of good feelings.

Lance’s eyes widened. He started stuttering out nonsensical strings of stilted words that ultimately didn’t form a cohesive sentence. He looked everywhere except at Keith, nervous laughter forced into the space between them.

Their fingers brushed underneath the box that was squished between them. Lance focused on that, how it felt. The way that it tingled because their skin was just barely touching, how Lance wanted to be able to feel the callouses Keith was sure to have, how the warmth radiating from Keith made the metal box feel more like ice. Keith was like a focused flame, hovering just in front of a boy who had never known a heat so intense or all-consuming. It kept his feet rooted in the sand, his muscles locked up, his hands not daring to creep any nearer.

A small voice screamed within Lance, terrified: _run, run, you’re not ready for this, what are you doing, run._

“Lance?” Keith’s voice cut through the noise in his head, his eyes slowly, painfully, dragging their gaze up to meet Keith’s pinched expression. “I was just teasing. About the kiss. I wasn’t—I wasn’t expecting you to…to do it again, or anything.”

Lance’s tongue darted out between his lips briefly wetting the dried skin. He watched Keith’s eyes lower at the movement. It was all the encouragement Lance needed to close the short distance because he really, _really_ wanted to kiss him.

The box between them made it slightly uncomfortable but Lance considered it overridden by the featherlight touch of his mouth against Keith’s and the smell of saltwater in his nose and the overall knowledge that he _kissed Keith_. Keith, who surprised Lance by arranging a trip home. Keith, who trusted Lance with his past. Keith, who always made Lance feel seen and heard. Keith, who made Lance strive to be better.

And Lance had _kissed him._

On a _beach_.

In _Cuba_ on the planet _Earth_.

He’s pretty sure his brain might be melting.

The kiss itself was nothing to scream about—it was so light, barely there, barely a kiss at all—but Lance couldn’t imagine it being any more wonderful. His senses were overwhelmed by the feeling of _home_ and _Keith._ The kiss said so much of what they both were too scared to say aloud while simultaneously soothing those same worries and insecurities with gentle hands.

Lance pulled back just far enough so their lips were no longer touching, eyes still closed. He shifted the box’s weight into his arms effortlessly, Keith’s grip having gone slack.

“Thanks,” Lance whispered. Keith leaned forward, chasing after the kiss and capturing his lips once more. It was still all light pressure, yet it managed to make Lance’s toes curl from the pleasure of it.

It couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds but to Lance it felt like hours could pass and it wouldn’t have been enough time to truly appreciate the situation he found himself in. Keith was the one to pull away this time, reminding him that they had people—more specifically his family—waiting for them.

Their pace was slow along the shoreline. Kosmo splashed in the shallows, disappearing and reappearing up and down the shore, and fruitlessly bit at the saltwater that rose in the air in response. Lance couldn’t help but wonder if, should he be so lucky, this might be his future. He could see them having dates on the beach, jogging with Kosmo, babysitting Nadia and Sylvio and any nieces or nephews to come. An intense twisting in his gut at the thought of Keith interacting with the curious hellions clued Lance in to just how much he _wanted_ that for them.

The way his heart squeezed when Keith laughed at Kosmo, who had bit his tongue in an attempt to eat the water, reminded Lance of the last time he’d felt this light and dizzy with affection. It was the same kind of unending wellspring, but Lance couldn’t quite help but feel it was different than what he’d felt for Allura. Maybe it was different because it was Keith.

He was forced to stop thinking about it as they approached the path Lance so vividly remembered.

The wooden steps were decorated with children’s chalk drawings and seashells. There were a few new drawings amongst the sand that permanently decorated the veins of worn wood, and someone had arranged various shells meticulously around part of a sand dollar. Lance’s feet fell heavy against the steps, the fifth step from the top bending beneath the weight with a groan. He could hear Kosmo pad up behind them and make curious noises at the decorations along the way.

At the top, there was a makeshift path that led to the side gate of a fenced in yard. The home attached to it was a long one-story building that had been painted red. The back of the house was decorated with blue streamers and he could just make out what looked to be a _Welcome Home_ banner. Lance’s vision started to blur at the sight as his eyes misted over, the scenery blurring more with each step closer. He could feel the twitch in his bottom lip as his smile began to waver.

Loud laughter floated over the top of the fence and they could hear the faint sounds of Latin pop music beneath it. Kosmo, having taken notice of their intended destination, disappeared with a flash, reappearing beside the gate and rising onto his hind legs to look over to the other side. A woman shrieked when a child’s voice called attention to the ‘puppy’.

“Kosmo,” Keith warned. The space wolf looked back mischievously. “Kosmo, _no_.”

Kosmo jumped the fence.

Keith ran for the fence and vaulted over it after Kosmo, ignoring the gate entirely much to Lance’s disbelief, and followed promptly by startled screams. Lance balanced the box precariously in one arm to open the gate and give Keith a look that read clearer than water: _what the hell, dude?!_ Keith at least looked sheepish as he wrestled with Kosmo.

Luis sighed, hand rubbing at his forehead and tired smile upon his lips.

“Well,” he chuckled. “Lance always did like an entrance.”

\-----

It was a whirlwind of introductions, hugs, food, questions, more food, exaggerated space adventure stories, and more food.

Kosmo was, of course, the children’s main focus the entire time. They had somehow engaged the wolf in an odd game of tag where he’d appear behind one of them and place his head on top of theirs and disappear to find the other before the first could turn and catch him. It made the kids a giggling frenzy trying to hide and catch the blue furred creature. Nadia and Sylvio were more than happy to be wearing the flower crowns Lance had made for them. He’d even put on a show of naming them official space prince and princess warriors of Voltron to which they laughed and told him that that wasn’t how that worked before taking their toy blasters and trying to ‘shoot’ each other.

Keith mostly sat in one place, just watching Lance enjoy himself and trying to keep an eye on Kosmo to make sure he didn’t cause too much trouble. Occasionally, one of Lance’s siblings would come and chat with him, though it was mostly Luis and Rachel. Marco had largely ignored him and gave him a bit of the stink eye—which Keith deserved, considering he may or may not have knocked him to the ground when he hopped the fence after Kosmo.

Lisa had come over at one point, expression far too innocent to be genuine, and had asked him if he was Lance’s _friend_. Confused, Keith had told her yes. The woman had just smiled and nodded, satisfied with the answer, and walked away. It wasn’t until a few minutes later while chatting with Veronica that he’d understood the strange emphasis on the word ‘friend’ and turned a shade darker than the Red Lion. Lance had even come over to ask if he was alright and needed a drink, to which Luis had snorted into his drink and promptly began coughing.

Once Luis had quit hacking up a lung, Lance’s _abuelita_ called for everyone’s attention by banging on one of the tables that had been set up.

“Lancito,” she started fondly, “the day we were told you were lost to this world, the sky cried with us. Then, like _un ángel de Dios_ , _Señor_ Sam came to us with a message from you, and the sun shined in our lives again. And now, you have come back to us. You came home, _mijo_.”

Lance’s mother wrapped her son up in her arms and spoke shakily.

“We are so _proud_ of you, _mijo_. So proud.”

“ _Mamá_ , _Abuelita_ ,” Lance’s voice cracked. He reached an arm out to where his grandmother stood. She didn’t hesitate to make her way into the hug.

Rachel smiled, patting Marco on the shoulder as the boy sniffled.

“We missed you, _hermanito_ ,” Veronica said, Sylvio bouncing impatiently in her lap.

Lance let go of his mother and grandmother and moved to embrace as many of his siblings as possible. In the end, he ended up the center of a messy group hug with the little kids wedging their way between legs to be included.

Kosmo licked at one of Keith’s hands, and Keith scratched at the wolf’s ear in return. As Lance and his siblings laughed, Lance’s mother approached Keith.

“Keith,” she said softly.

Keith found he liked the way her accented voice said his name, making it warm and as though it belonged to an entirely different person.

“Yes, Ms. McClain?” Keith responded politely. Her face was rounder than Lance’s, but it looked just as well taken care of. There wasn’t a wrinkle or blemish in sight besides the beginnings of crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes.

“Please, either call me _mamá_ or Talia, I must insist,” the woman smiled sweetly. Keith couldn’t help but notice that she talked with her hands the same way that Lance did. “I’m glad you were able to join us today. You are a sweet boy; I like you. But, more importantly, _Lance_ likes you.”

Keith watched as the kids worked together to try and wrestle Lance and Luis to the ground. He smiled when Lance picked up Sylvio and started to relentlessly wiggle his fingers against the boy’s sides.

“Lance is always challenging me to be better. He doesn’t always make it _easy_ , but it’s almost always fun. He’s done a lot for me, whether he’s aware of it or not. The least I could do was make sure he got to come home for a bit,” Keith told her.

The woman reached up, giving a hard pinch to both of Keith’s cheeks before smoothing her hands on either side of his face.

“ _Sweet_ boy,” she sighed, thumb delicately brushing the purple stripe on Keith’s right cheek. “ _Lo siento, mijo,_ but I must ask you to do a favor for a selfish mother. The universe may need you boys, but…make sure he comes home. Keep him safe as best you can, for me.”

Keith’s shoulders dropped just a fraction, and his eyes softened. There was something about the somber tone Talia used that reminded him of the voice his own mother had used when telling his father that she had to leave to keep them safe. Talia’s eyes reflected that same sad desperation that pulled on Keith’s heart.

He placed a hand over the one that cupped his right cheek, squeezing the fingers gently.

“I promise I’ll keep an eye on him,” Keith smiled. His eyes darted over to where the kids and Kosmo had dogpiled on top of Lance. “I’ll make sure he comes home.”

\-----

They spent a week in Cuba with Lance’s family. Lance took Keith sightseeing, walking him past tourist traps in Havana and showing him favorite local shops and authentic Cuban cuisine. Keith had even made a video call with his mother one night after dinner to tell her about what they’d been doing and to get an update of the progress back at the Garrison.

(Marco had almost fallen out of his chair when he realized who Keith was talking to.

“The tall purple cat lady was _your mother?!_ But she was—She wasn’t human!” he’d exclaimed. Lance rolled his eyes.

“Thanks, Captain Obvious. We hadn’t noticed,” he drawled. “Krolia, excuse my older brother, he’s not very polite.”

“Seriously though, is she actually, like, you know… _biologically_ your—?” Keith nodded and Krolia actually laughed at Marco, who had mimed a pregnancy belly. “That’s _crazy_. Lance, your boyfri—”

Lance had slapped a hand over Marco’s mouth effectively cutting him off as well as starting a wrestling match, but both Keith and Lance were red in the face and Krolia looked a little smug with one eyebrow raised.)

They even found themselves babysitting at one point, not that either minded much. Spending time with the kids made Lance happy and seeing Lance happy made Keith fuzzy and soft. Plus, having kids full of boundless energy around was a good outlet for Kosmo to release his own boundless energy. Sylvio, however, was more interested in Keith and the stories from their time in space.

Lance pretended not to feel the least bit jealous that Sylvio seemed to prefer Keith over him, and he also pretended that seeing Keith with the little boy curled up in his lap and answering endless questions wasn’t the most adorable thing he had ever seen in his life.

(“Why do you have this?” Sylvio asked, poking the scar on his face.

“I fought with my brother,” Keith said simply with a shrug. Sylvio frowned.

“No fair, I fight with Nadia all the time and I don’t have one.”

“It’s probably because I’m an alien,” Keith smiled, even though that really wasn’t the reason.

“What? No you’re not!” Sylvio told him in the very matter-of-fact way that children do. “Aliens are ugly and you’re not so you can’t be one.”

“My friends Allura and Romelle are aliens, and they’re very pretty,” Keith argued, leaning back on his hands to better look Sylvio in the face. “And Kosmo is an alien. I don’t think he’s very ugly either.”

The boy seemed to consider the Kosmo argument better than the Allura and Romelle one but otherwise didn’t seem convinced.

“Fine, _some_ aliens aren’t ugly, but you’re still not an alien, so there!”)

When they ultimately had to head back to the Garrison, there was another large party thrown in the McClain’s backyard as a send-off, as well as making sure both boys had plenty of food and clothes and trinkets to take back into space with them.

Lance could tell Keith was feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of love his family was directing at him, and Lance was glad to give him the experience even if Luis kept teasing and Marco kept sharing embarrassing stories. The party was filled with music and laughter and, of course, more food than they could eat, but Kosmo was more than willing to scarf down unguarded leftovers. As soon as the party started showing signs of winding down, Sylvio attached himself to one of Keith’s legs and Nadia latched on to the other, giggling through their unshed tears.

“Don’t go!” Nadia whined. “I don’t want you to leave again.”

“Yeah,” Sylvio agreed. “Stay here forever and ever!”

Lisa started to move to remove the kids, but Keith just squatted and placed a hand on top of both their heads and smiled.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be back soon, okay?” he removed his hand from Nadia’s head and held out his pinky to them. “Pinky swear.”

Sylvio wrapped his significantly smaller pinky finger tightly around Keith’s.

“Now walk us to the lion!” Nadia demanded from her seat on Keith’s foot. Keith shrugged.

“Well, if you insist,” he sighed but his smile gave away his enjoyment of the kids’ antics.

Keith made a show of struggling to walk to the path that led to the beach as the kids shrieked with laughter. The rest of the family followed down to the small section of beach the McClain family had invested in for many years to enjoy beach time without the tourist crowds, where the Red Lion had waited the week out patiently.

Nadia and Sylvio quickly abandoned Keith’s legs to try and climb up onto Red’s paws.

“Wha—It’s so _cool_!” Sylvio shouted, having made it on top of the left paw. “ _Mamá_ , look at it!”

“I see it, _mijo_ ,” Lisa chuckled. “Now, get down from there, and tell Tío Lance and Keith goodbye.”

Sylvio pouted but went to give them both a hug.

“I’m gonna miss you,” he told Keith. “So you gotta promise to call’n stuff, okay?”

“Okay,” Keith told him, a little shocked at the request. The boy turned his big eyes, wide and green and innocent, up to Keith’s face.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Sylvio’s bottom lip started to wobble as he nodded and wrapped his arms around Lance next, voice cracking wildly as he asked the same of his uncle. Keith received a hug from Nadia as well, who did her best to cut off his airway.

Talia embraced both boys, pressing her lips against Lance’s temple and then Keith’s.

“Be safe, _mijos_ ,” she told them. “We will see you when you come back.”

Lance didn’t bother to hold back or wipe away the tears that spilled, but Keith was rapidly blinking back his own. Talia ran a hand through Lance’s hair, muttering soothing words in Spanish that Keith didn’t understand.

“ _Te voy a extrañar, mamá._ _Te quiero mucho_ ,” Lance’s voice cracked as he put as much emotion behind the words. Keith could hear the undertone of fear, like he was afraid that it would be his last chance to say it. The fear in his voice violently gnawed at Keith’s heart and made him nauseous. Keith would do everything in his power to never have to hear that fear in Lance’s voice again.

Talia gave them both one last squeeze before letting them go and rejoining the group gathered on the sand. Kosmo gave Nadia and Sylvio both one last lick to the face before padding up the ramp and into Red’s cockpit for the ride back to the Garrison. Keith clasped a hand on Lance’s shoulder, fingers kneading gently and rhythmically. Looking at Lance’s family, gathered with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces and love in their hearts, Keith didn’t trust himself to say anything without crying those tears he was trying so hard to hold back.

He smiled at Lance and at Lance’s family, nodding and raising a hand. He walked up the ramp as quickly as he could without looking like he was running away from them. He just wanted to be in the safety of the cockpit so that he could breath and dry his eyes. He barely made it more than a few steps inside before a few stray tears leaked out the corners.

Keith caught the final goodbyes from his spot just inside Red. He could hear Lance’s slow, heavy footsteps as he banged up the metal ramp. The closer Lance got, the clearer he could hear the short, shaky intakes of breath and sniffling. Once Lance had crossed the threshold, the ramp started retracting and Red’s head raised.

Lance turned to Keith, immediately placing his face into the crook of Keith’s neck. His breathing became heavier as he started crying harder, arms snaked loosely around Keith’s waist. Keith’s own arms wrapped around Lance’s back, rubbing a hand up and down his teammate’s back.

“How,” Lance gasped between cries, “is it—how is it h-harder…to say g-goodbye than—than it was to—to _miss_ them in space?”

Keith’s grip tightened as Lance’s sobs calmed to rattling breaths. Without much thought other than wanting Lance to calm down, he pressed a light kiss to the other boy’s forehead.

“Because this time you got to, and you don’t want it to be the last time,” Keith muttered. “Because we all know that we’re going to be headed right back for a battlefield once the new ship is done. We’re going to be okay though, Lance. You’re going to see them again; I’ll do everything I can to make sure of it.”

Lance’s nails dug through the fabric of Keith’s shirt and the two just stood for another few seconds in each other’s arms, taking comfort in the other’s presence. Red could be felt in the back of their minds, blanketing them in an odd tranquil feeling, and reminding them they needed to get going. Lance released Keith a bit reluctantly, wiping furiously at his face and cursing at himself.

“Shit, I must look like such a mess,” Lance groaned.

“A little,” Keith admitted. “But, after saying goodbye to your family for an indefinite amount of time, I think I’d be more concerned if you didn’t.”

Lance snorted, and Keith found it to be a point of pride that he’d gotten a happy reaction at all.

They walked together rest of the way inside, Lance taking the pilot’s seat. His hands went to the controls, and Red slowly rose to the skies. The beach grew smaller, then cities blurred together, and then they were over the edge of Cuba and on to the Atlantic Ocean. When Lance’s hands started to shake as the emotions of the day washed over him again, Red gave a soothing hum that was suspiciously like a purr. The lion took over the flight, locking the steering controls into place and assuring Lance that he would know when to take over again.

Lance pulled his legs up into the pilot’s chair so that he could hug his knees to his chest, chin propped up on one knee and eyes staring up at Keith.

“Hey, Keith?” Keith looked away from the ocean beneath them to look at Lance. “I know I’m a broken record at this point, but seriously, thanks. It means a lot that you would do this for me. You’re really amazing. I don’t think anyone else would’ve been able to make this _happen_ , you know? I know I wasn’t doing anything to. I pretty much resigned myself to just getting that one moment when we first landed, but you…you made sure that I’d—that I’d get to go _home_ , man. See Varadero and Havana and the little shop on the pier I used to work at. That’s crazy to me.”

Keith’s hands went to cup either side of Lance’s face, thumbs swiping to catch rogue tears. One of Lance’s hands reached up, long fingers wrapping around Keith’s wrist so loosely Keith could barely be sure they were really there against his skin.

“Of course I made it happen; you deserved to go home, Lance, even if it was only for a little while. I wouldn’t dream of leaving Earth before you got to see them and say goodbye in person.”

“You need to stop that,” Lance told him through a small smile.

“Stop what?”

“Being so goddamn nice and sweet and making it _really_ hard to have self-control!” Keith huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “Don’t laugh at me, Kogane, this is serious!”

“Oh yeah?” Keith said. The sight of the smirk that had spread on Keith’s face, his sharp almost-fang-like canines poking out teasingly, lit a fire in Lance that spread further with each accelerating heartbeat. “How serious?”

“Pretty damn serious,” Lance told him. Keith was so _close_ , the smirk so _tempting_ to kiss into oblivion. “You might be the death of me one day.”

The laugh Keith gave him was like throwing gasoline onto the fire in Lance’s heart, the heat of it reaching out and sucking the oxygen from his lungs to feed this brighter, wilder flame. It was so much harder to breath.

A sudden pressure on his head brought him from his stupor. Keith had delicately placed a kiss to the center of Lance’s forehead, hands still cupping either side of his face. When Keith pulled back, the hint of a smile still on his face, Lance didn’t even hesitate to follow the movement and connect their lips.

This kiss, unlike the last ones they had shared, was rougher. Lance kept applying more force behind it, as if he were scared of what might happen should he stop. One of Keith’s hands slid to situate itself more at the back of Lance’s neck, fingers curling in his hair. The hand that remained on his cheek pushed gently to relieve them both of the excess pressure Lance fed into the kiss. Keith ended up guiding him into a steady rhythm of movement so that it was no longer just lips pressed against lips.

He’s not sure if it’s him or Keith who initiates the use of tongue—he thinks it was probably Keith, but his mind is running a million miles a second and he’s high on the sensation of _Keith_ that surrounds him—but it doesn’t matter because now Lance knows what Keith _tastes_ like. He’ll later tell Hunk something flowery and superfluous like ‘he tasted the way watching the sunset feels’, but Lance found that it was really like the spices his _mamá_ and _abuelita_ had put in the dinner that night. Keith was spices and cinnamon and a hint of something bittersweet that took Lance a few seconds longer than it should have to recognize Lisa’s homemade lemonade.

Lance couldn’t stop the smile that grew at the remnants of home he found in Keith. It effectively slowed the kissing down as Keith began to fight his own growing smile until they were just smiling wide, dopey smiles at each other.

“You—me—date—m’kay?” His brain was still in the process of replaying and comprehending the everything that had happened since stepping back into the Red Lion. A full sentence was not going to be possible.

“Are you asking me on a date?” Keith said, eyes alight with amusement and something Lance dared to think might be fondness.

“One. A thousand,” Lance shrugged, pressing forward to touch his lips lightly to Keith’s smile. “Just—date me.”

“Mmm…I’ll have to think about it,” Keith smiled and then recaptured Lance’s mouth in the most dizzying, heated kiss they had shared yet. It was another few minutes before they disconnected with a slight wet pop. “Thought about it. Answer’s yes.”

\-----

The rest of the flight back to the Garrison is, in Lance’s humble opinion, time well spent.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading! It was...an experience to write it, to say the least.
> 
> My tumblr is salty-star-child, so feel free to come scream at me if you want or if you just want to see what kind of fuckery is going on my head


End file.
